Dammit! CMBB Nightmare! Help please Schrullenhaft !!!

[Ex Bellator]

The menu screens and intro screens are totally blank so I cannot choose any options. Random clicking around the screen eventually takes me to the next screen but I can never tell what I clicked on. The actual battlefield graphics are fine.

System is:

Operating System: Windows 98 Version: 4.10.2222A

Processor Type: AMD Athlon 750MHz

Physical Memory: 256,000KB

CD-ROM Drive: E-IDE CD-ROM 52X/AKH

Monitor: (Standard monitor types) Plug and Play Monitor

Display Info: 1024 x 768 16777216 colors, 32-bit

Pointing Device: PS/2 Compatible Mouse Port

Network: Microsoft Dial-Up Adapter

Modem: Lucent Win Modem

Sound Card: SB Live!

Video Card: 3dfx Voodoo 4500 AGP

My guess is that the Voodoo 4500 AGP drivers are to blame, but the link suggested to the Voodoo site in the manual is broken and I cannot see a driver file with Google.

Phuuuulease help, this is killing me!

[Sgian Dubh]

I am having exactly the same problem with a 3Dfx 4500 AGP.

The games doesn't lock up for me, I just have to nursemaid it through the various screens until I get to the actual game. Then all is well.

If you want real frustration, try and edit a map. You click and click and nothings shows up until you click to a new type of icon, then suddently all of you prevous clicks show up. Makes fine-tuning a map all but impossible.

[Ex Bellator]

Sgian Dubh - thanks for your comment. Could you by any chance advise me what drivers you have for the 4500 AGP and where I might find them?

[Sgian Dubh]

I can make them available for you to download.

It will take me a bit to set things up and then I will send you an email on how to retrieve them.

The version numbers are:1.04.00 for WIN2k and 1.04.01 beta for Win9X

[Schrullenhaft]

I've seen this problem with the Voodoo Banshees, Voodoo 1 & 2 and a couple of other cards. I don't think I saw this problem with the Voodoo 3 & 5500 though.

You can download some of the last 3dfx Reference drivers and some good 3rd Party ones from x3dfx (click on Drivers in the left hand menu).

You'll want to have DirectX 7.x or later installed (if you don't already). I also suggest uninstalling the Voodoo Drivers and the 3dfx Tools before installing newer drivers (you'll need to reboot and select a 'Standard PCI SVGA' adapter before installing the new drivers). Be aware that some of these downloads don't have the 3dfx Tools in them.

As to which driver to download, I'm not sure. I have a Voodoo 3 & 5500 running with the last of the official 3dfx drivers (1.04.xx). I believe that the 1.08.xx drivers are actually quite good, so they would be worth downloading too. I'd suggest starting with the latest 1.04.xx driver and see if that fixes your problem. If not then uninstall it and then install the 1.08.xx series driver.

[Sgian Dubh]

Well I'll be a suck-egg mule. I didn't know that site existed. Downloading the 1.08 files now and will try them tonight.

I guess I don't need to set anything up since the 1.04 files are on this site as well.

Fantastic.

[favreking]

listen people.....if you have FSAA enabled at 2x...you will get a blank menu screen.....turn it off or select 4x and the menus will run

[Schrullenhaft]

I know that there's some problems with 'Fastest' mode (generally FSAA OFF) with the Voodoo 5500. But since that is a dual-chip setup, I'm not sure if the problem completely relates to the Voodoo 4's.

[Ex Bellator]

All you guys are officially owed a beer if you ever pass through Kent.

I tried both the drivers that Schrullenhaft pointed us to, and unfortunately neither cured the problem by themselves. However, the breakthrough is the Anti Aliasing option.

On the Voodoo 4500 AGP you can either have 'Disabled - Fastest' or '2x AA'. If you run with the Disabled option you get the blank screens. Turn 2xAA on and you can use the menus just fine.

It isn't perfect, I still don't get an intro screen, and there are some blocks of text which appear behind the mouse pointer whenever I click in the menus, but at I can actually play CMBB now.

Thanks again, and I've used up my exclamation quota for the year in that title

[ September 26, 2002, 03:44 PM: Message edited by: Rex_Bellator ]

[Doom Yeti]

I don't know if this will be helpful to you at all, but I have the same problem with a GeForce4 Ti4400.

I get around it by waiting for the music, then hitting Ctrl-Alt-Del to break out, and just hit cancel to go back into the game. Voila! Menu appears perfectly.

[Schrullenhaft]

Doom Yeti - perhaps you're using the 40.41 or later beta drivers that have problems with FSAA ? The above advice is probably applicable to you - 2X & Quincunx FSAA will probably give you the blank/black screen. Turning FSAA off or to 4x or 4xS will probably fix the issue for you (that or simply Alt-Tab'ing to the desktop and re-maximizing CM again). Ctrl-Alt-Del refreshes the screen, which is probably why it works as a stop-gap measure.

[ September 26, 2002, 04:34 PM: Message edited by: Schrullenhaft ]

[Doom Yeti]

I just installed the 40.71 drivers, and changed to 4x, and that fixed it.

Thanks for the tip.

[Sgian Dubh]

Hi.

Just wanted to update this thread.

I installed the 1.08 drivers and I now am quite happy running CMBB. Yes, there is the small square under the mouse cursor, but it is transient and doesn't hamper use too greatly.

I can live with it for a few more months when I gut my box and replace the motherbaord and a new GeForce 4 Ti. I can't replace it at this time b/c my current motherboard won't accept the Geforce card.

Oh, I check with the Chair of my Domestic Ways and Means committee about heading accross the pond for that pint. For some reason, she was not as enthusiastic about it as was I.